The Trump administration has approached an alliance of armed Iranian Kurdish groups about their potential role in helping the United States in its ongoing campaign with Israel to degrade and destroy Iran’s clerical regime, well-informed Kurdish sources in the region briefing Al-Monitor on the matter have confirmed.

The subject was broached recently by US officials in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, the sources who spoke on background said.

US and Israeli forces appear to be preparing the ground for Kurdish action, striking at least 17 cities across Kurdish-populated areas of Iran as of Monday, the sources said. The targets have included intelligence and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters, as well as border crossings and prisons packed with political detainees.

The sources said that the Iranian Kurdish coalition is asking the United States to establish a no-fly zone over the Kurdish areas to provide air cover for potential future operations and, above all, to prove its commitment, the sources added. This would mirror the no-fly zones established in 1991 under the George H.W. Bush administration to protect the Kurds of northern Iraq and the Shiite population in the country’s south against attacks from Saddam Hussein.